"The Garden Lodge" by Willa Cather
analytical Essay
975 words
Cather's “The Garden Lodge” is about a woman named Caroline Noble whose husband, Howard, asked her if she would like to demolish their old garden lodge and replace it with a summer house. The conflict in the story is Caroline is not sure if she wants to knock down the old garden lodge because it brings back memories of when opera singer Raymond d'Esquerre, spent a month at their place. The resolution is that Caroline decides to go on with building the summer house and demolishing the garden lodge. The author uses flashback to explain how Caroline grew up and also when she reminiscences about her time with Raymond.
The characters in “The Garden Noble” are both flat and round characters, who help characterize Caroline throughout the story, especially when the story flashbacks to her childhood. Willa Cather tells rather than shows her characters.
1. Caroline Noble- She is the protagonist/hero and her plausible motivation for not wanting to build the new summer house was her musical past and how the garden lodge reminded her of that. She quickly says to how it would be “ almost a shame, doesn't it, after d'Esquerre has used it”(Cather 3) as a good excuse for not replacing the lodge. She eventually changes her mind after she had “slept over it”(6). Caroline is a static and is a round character being described as “paramountly cool-headed, slow of impulse, and disgustingly practical” (1) and musical with even more characterization that makes her stand out more than the other characters.
2. Howard Noble- He is Caroline's husband and also would be considered the antagonist in this particular story. He does not understand his wife's connection to the lodge and begans taunting her by saying “Why I'd sacrifice the whole place to see th...
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...re flat characters, but her descriptions were like summaries of each of the family members. Cather's tone suggest that she has empathy for Caroline because of “The impression of cold calculation... which Caroline gave, was far from a false one; but there was this to be said for her-- that there were extenuating circumstances which her friends could not know”(2), meaning that none of her friends understand what she had been through in her past.
“The Garden Lodge” takes the reader into the world of a once poor girl who found relief in a wealthy and successful man. Cather uses the point of view and characterization to help fully understand what the protagonist was thinking and why she chose the things she did. She makes this story understandable and a good read.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. “The Garden Lodge.” The Literature Network. Jalic Inc., 2011. Web. Feb. 2011.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how cather's "the garden lodge" is about a woman named caroline noble whose husband, howard, asked her if she would like to demolish their old garden lodge.
- Analyzes how willa cather's characters in "the garden noble" are both flat and round characters, who help characterize caroline throughout the story.
- Analyzes how caroline noble's motivation for not wanting to build the new summer house was her musical past and how the garden lodge reminded her of that.
- Analyzes how howard noble is caroline's husband and would be considered the antagonist in this particular story. he is a flat?static character who doesn't affect her decision of removing the lodge.
- Analyzes how raymond d'esquerre, a round/static character, is used as part of caroline's motivation not to replace the lodge.
- Analyzes how auguste neglected his duties to write orchestral compositions and was determined to make his daughter a famous pianist.
- Analyzes how caroline's mother is a stock and static character with no known name mentioned in the story. she is the devoted, loyal wife to her husband.
- Opines that heinrich is a stock character who does not have an impact in the story. he did nothing in his life significant and was addicted to many things.
- Analyzes how cather makes the social environment more important than anything else that involves the setting.
- Analyzes how uses the highly used point of view third person limited omniscient to get into the main characters, caroline's thoughts and touching on her feelings.
- Analyzes how cather puts one important symbol in the story that explains everything. the garden lodge stands for caroline's past and what she has gained from ridding of that point of time.
- Analyzes how cather's style persists of good use of characterization. her descriptions are not overly descriptive, but are described enough to get a knowing of who the characters are without being completely round characters.
- Analyzes how cather uses the point of view and characterization to help fully understand what the protagonist was thinking and why she chose the things she did.
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